This is an annual event. We went yesterday and it was a lovely atmosphere. It is held on actual…read moreallotments. Very reminiscent of country fetes that used to be held in someone's (huge) village garden. Was worth being stuck in traffic forever on our 1 1/2 hour journey there. Huw Lloyd-Langton (formerly of Hawkwind) kindly donated his time again, and this was who we went to see really. The Assassins of Science also did a 40 min set with Huw joining them in some numbers. The Elder Stubbs Festival is a highlight of the Cowley calendar, bringing together allotment holders, members of the Elder Stubbs Garden Group, artists, musicians craftspeople and the public at large from all over the local area in a celebration of work and talents. Two stages allow for musical and poetic expression, and many stalls throughout the site represent local organisations involved in social and environmental work. Fresh vegetables, plants and homemade jams and pickles are available if you get there fast enough, and refreshments are also sold on site. Book stalls, plants, face painting, organic produce amongst others. Hot veggie food and meat stuff. Families. Twisted tree sculptures. Arts, crafts, poetry. The Elder Stubbs Festival began as a small event (2000+ visitors each year now) thirteen years ago as a joint venture between Elder Stubbs and RESTORE as an attempt to generate community support for projects. This proved a great success, and the large amounts of publicity generated have meant it has become a fixture in local life, raising money for RESTORE and the profile of both organisations. There is now strong competition to play on both stages! One of a funniest highlights was the fly past by The RED BARROWS! Team members running round the site in a line pushing red wheelbarrows. Elder Stubbs Festival is special: animals for petting, magicians, belly dancers, bagpipers, weavers, martial artists, poets and rock stars standing shoulder to shoulder amongst flowers, sculptures and vegetables. Set on the Elder Stubbs allotment site, there was a diverse array of attractions from performing arts and workshops to stalls, speakers, children's activities and the vegetable show, as well as a wide choice of foods. Around 50 different stallholders use the festival as a forum to share information about local groups and organisations, sell home-made goods, run an activity or vend an assortment of world cuisines. All proceeds are to charity (£1 entrance fee. Bit of info/history: Elder Stubbs Charity is the proud owner and manager of Elder Stubbs Allotments, at Rymers Lane in Cowley, Oxford. The site is a leading example of the successful reinvention of allotment management, and provides a working model for the involvement of disparate members of the local community in city land use. It provides over 100 allotments for local residents. In addition it has diversified by letting tenancies to other charities with similar aims to itself. Notable amongst these are The Porch Steppin' Stone project which cultivates an area of land to grow the organic vegetables used at its day-centre to provide meals for the long-term unemployed, and the Elder Stubbs Garden Group, part of RESTORE, which cultivates 2 acres as an organic market-garden and orchard run as an horticultural therapy project for people recovering from mental illness. Elder Stubbs Allotments were an award to the poor of Cowley under the Inclosure Act of 1852 in compensation for the enclosure and subsequent loss of their Common on Shotover. 150 years later the charity still provides over 100 allotments for local residents. In addition it has diversified by letting tenancies to other charities with similar aims to itself. Really worth a look next year for something different.

I wish Id known about this earlier definately would have gone,will check it out for next year,thanxread more

My favorite bar / place to party in Oxford!…read more This is a super spacious, BEAUTIFUL building. It was originally an old church that's since been refurbished. You can still admire the beautiful stained glass windows, though. There's a ton of space to mingle with friends or strangers. When we came at night it tended to be dimly lit with loud music playing, definitely a club type atmosphere, so you could get lost in the crowd pretty easily. Of course, they may have since changed that vibe since it's been a few years since I visited...but I loved it at the time. The friendly bar staff also fixed me the best White Russian I've ever had, too, so that definitely helps with the nostalgia factor. :)

A church converted into a pizza and beer and wine spot, this spot made a tasty thin crust pizza…read more There's come cool, hopefully, local art adorning the walls. At 7 p.m., the place was empty. Man, if this was the states, everybody and their mother would be waiting for a table. One pizza is about medium size and just enough for one person. My only small complaint was that it was extra oily but take a napkin and sop it up. Indoor and outdoor seating available.

WOW!!!! Just got back from our first visit to the Secret Garden Party. Better than Glasto probably…read morebecause the emphasis is on art AND music so there is lots to do. This time loads of good music plus circus skills, sock wrestling, hula hooping, explorers camp, dance, camera obscura, samba lessons, yoga, ferris wheel etc etc etc. Lots of eccentric costumes, very kid friendly. Fantastic atmosphere - very friendly and good natured. No flights, no trouble. Even the toilets were reasonable - much better than other festivals :-) In 2005, The Secret Garden Party won the Best Small Festival prize at the UK Festival Awards. It won the Best Small Festival prize for the second time in 2008. In 2007, it was named 'best British music festival' by Radio 1. We're booking for next year without a doubt :-)

Cropredy is a beautiful, tiny village near Banbury on the banks of the Cherwell. It is an old…read morevillage, dating from before the English civil war, and it looks it (in the quaint, lovely way, rather than the rundown way!) It has a thriving community, including a school, a church, pubs, a doctor's surgery, general store and other small business appropriate to an English village and a rather spiffing website (http://www.cropredyvillage.info/index.htm) . The website will tell you all about the history of the village (including the civil war battle fought here in 1644 and its mention in the Domesday Book), the age of the properties (from really quite old to not really very old at all), the amenities, and its location (the Cherwell valley, three miles north of Banbury and Junction 11 of the M40 Motorway). Do visit the website for loads of useful information. However, I'd like to give you my impressions. It is one of the friendliest places I have ever been. The local residents are of all ages, and welcome visitors with open arms (and, once a year, they get a rather large influx of visitors, but more on that in a minute). The church warden will gladly show visitors around, and discuss the new bells installed a couple of years ago. The residents will recount the age and history of their homes. There is a cricket club, which is quintessentially English. There are moorings on the river and canal for boats. This is a beautiful village, but you might well ask how I, an ex-pat American living in London has found herself there not once but three times. You might also wonder what I am talking about when I mention the annual influx of visitors. Each year, Cropredy plays host to Fairport Conventions annual...well....convention. This is a fabulous folk festival over a weekend in August. There are many, many things that make this different from other festivals - there is only one stage, for a start, the age range tends to be older, it's folk...but what makes this festival unique is that the village positively welcomes the up-to-30,000 visitors the village plays host to. The boy scouts are on litter duty. Local lads sell programmes. The pubs open for breakfast. The cricket club opens for showers. The residents mind the inconvenience (traffic, parking restrictions, smelly festival goers) not a whit. Fairport Convention allocate a ticket to each of the 750 residents to do with as they please. Everyone is happy. An idyllic English village indeed - and one well worth visiting even if you're not a folk music fan...

Once upon a time this was a small local festival taking place every now and again out back at a…read morepub. Now it's one of the largest folk music festivals in the United Kingdom. It takes place during summer every year, at the beginning of the summer holidays, and is a very family friendly event. This is the ideal festival for those with young children and an aversion to massive crowds, the like you find at Glastonbury. There are many regulars who return year after year, and the festival is becoming ever more popular year after year too. This was the festival that I was taken to as a child. I could probably draw you a map of it down to the last blade of grass. With live music, dancing and a wonderful variety of stalls, this festival can be a little bit of an unforgettable experience. This year the festival takes place from the 22nd-25th of July, and includes acts such as Show of Hands, Bellowhead and many, many others. Quickly, book now!

Having not long since turned 18 I thought I would splash out and go with my friends to a music…read morefestival now that I could drive and legal to attend. I have always been a big fan of dance music and having read the stage line ups for the 2008 Gatecrasher festival I was tempted to buy tickets. Tickets were fairly expensive yet by comparing to other festivals for similar things (camping etc) I wasn't being doddled out of too much. Instructions on the website about every detail including maps, directions, what they offered etc were very clear and easy to follow.When we arrived by car we got there about 3 hours after the site opened yet managed to get in and park quite quickly as the staff were very efficient.However I warn you now you have a trek of death to get your camping stuff from the car to the site and find a spot! As the site is so huge it is quite an exhausting stint carrying all your belongings (or what feels like your actual house after a while) in attempt to find somewhere you can put them all away again. Security was very lax compared to how they described it on the website - evidence of this came in numerous forms as you can probably imagine. However there were large amounts of loos (essential if your a lady camper cos we frankly can't manage a bush!) yet I would have gladly donned male parts as to avoid them they were that disgusting!Food availability and essentials such as water and first aid were plentiful and visible wherever you went. Paramedics and police were constantly on standby and patrolling the main site. The fairground was a bog standard travellers set up yet makes a fun evening with your friends as you are all buzzing from the atmosphere. The atmosphere in each tent is fantastic - even if the weather outside is terrible you still end up enjoying yourself (even just by laughing at the ravers in welly boots!) Each act I saw which included Dizzee Rascal, The Prodigy, Pete Tong, Hixxy, Zane Lowe etc all put on an amazing performance and made the weekend for the thousands of festival goers.The only problems that came about was the weather cancelling a few of the live stage acts due to health and safety - although they could of managed this better and planned in case of the inevitable weather. The lack of security meant you had to be on strong guard exactly what was going on around you. I must include in my review: R.I.P to the gentleman who died during the event of natural causes and could not be revived by the paramedics.

This is truly one of the best folk festivals that you can go so anywhere in the UK. Small, without…read morebeing cramped, and busy without being at all overpowering, year after year this festival has been a highlight of my year. Here you'll find everything you could possibly want in a weekend festival. Ceilidh tents, beer tents, children's activities, camping and caravan grounds, dodgy festival showers, stalls, and stalls and more stalls. The festival takes place on the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August every year, and never disappoints, no matter what the weather (or, indeed, he economic climate too). There is such an air of community here that there is, for me at least, a real sense of homecoming every time I arrive and set up camp. Acts such as Show of Hands, Seth Lakeman, Oysterband, Eliza McCarthy, Kate Rusby and many more are regular patrons ad performers at this event. But there are others from all around the world set to entertain. The highlight of the festival is the final night, when there is a parade of lanterns (made by festival-goers during the weekend) through the grounds and camping to arrive at the outdoor arena to be met with live music and fireworks. For a magical weekend you'll never forget, try Towersey!

Let me get my caveat in at the start: I have a real hatred of post offices, mainly due to years…read morespent queuing in a small town one full of sceaming babies and old men falling asleep in the queue. On this front, the Oxford post office is a relief. It's a bit more peaceful and there's more sense of urgency: the staff here seem to get it that people are there to get a chore done, not for a friendly chat. That said, they're still wonderfully polite and patient. Definitely not a job I would want. Things I like: - The building - nineteenth century arches, coat of arms, typical Oxford grandeur. - The post box outside - okay, so it's not the traditional red pillar, but it takes you back a century or two. - The Post Office currency exchange rate - one of the best you can get. - The stamp machine outside Things I don't like: - The queues - yes, most people go at lunchtime, so why not put more staff on the tills then? - The generality - same queue whether you want to post one envelope or twenty parcels; pick up a pension or become a millionaire in some obscure currency. Conclusion: A necessary evil that could be far worse.

Worst post office. Staff have no customer service skills, are extremely rude and the place is very…read morepoorly organised. After being there a while and there being no signs on the counter I asked if there quick drop counter was open or not, I got blanked by the staff member, totally, I asked a few times, I then asked if I was invisible, still not even eye contact. I went up to him and said, can you please not act like I am invisible to you and just answer me, he started having a go at me that he could not as was serving a customer. All I needed was a yes or no, he could find the time to have a go at me but not answer my question. Clearly no customer training and people are treated like they are not human beings.